Tip Tuesday: Be Yourself

August 15, 2018

Hey there! Glad you could join me again on the blog. You know how much I love my song titles, and Be Yourself by Patti really embodies what I’m feeling right now.

Writing is a solitary experience, for the most part, which is why many of us turn to Facebook and other social media outlets to give us a little pick-me-up between the stretches of hard work we are putting in on our writing.

And don’t be fooled by our whiny complaints and over-indulgence in coffee, wine, and journals. We love what we do, or else we wouldn’t do it.

But, as with any industry, there are those who treat it simply as a business and not as personal expression. These are the authors who use ghostwriters and manage to churn out a new release every other week (or so it seems!). Meanwhile, I’m sitting here tip tapping away on a story that will probably take me more than a month to finish.

I could look upon these authors with jealousy, disparage their methods, and make fun of their stories. I could be envious of the thousands of dollars they pull down every month and salivate at the screenshots of their earnings. It would be so easy for me to do.

But I won’t.

Patti’s song says “everybody’s got a heart that knows the truth“. No matter what you do, you’ve got to know your heart. Now….I’m not going to lie and act like I don’t want that payout…who couldn’t use a little extra scratch? However, what would be the point? Why do I need to imbue myself with poisonous, negative thoughts, good for nothing more than souring my heart, raining on my parade and harshing my mellow?

No and nope. I’ve got a heart that knows the truth, and the truth is, I love what I do and how I do it. I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m running my own race and working my own plan. And having a lot of fun doing so.

Could I be running my author life more like a business? Sure! Could I write more “to market” stories that readers will snatch off virtual shelves? Of course! But…to do so would turn me away from my vision of writing story for my soft black girls, my geeky gals and my quirky heroines. And that’s the reason why I got into writing: to write the stories I wanted to read.